Court rules for Picker in IES appeal

A U.S. Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal by independentservice organization Imaging Equipment Services in its case againstCleveland vendor Picker International. The ruling may end thenine-year legal battle between IES and Picker relating to scannerservice software and documentation.

Picker had accused IES of improperly using its service softwareand other charges, while IES countered by charging Picker withantitrust violations. A U.S. District Court judge sided with Pickerlast year, rejecting the ISO's claims (SCAN 7/19/95). Pittsburgh-basedIES filed an appeal of the ruling, but was later forced into Chapter7 liquidation by a bankruptcy trustee after the judge's decision(SCAN 9/13/95). The liquidation did not prevent IES from pursuingits appeal, however.

In delivering its Aug. 26 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals forthe First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the lower court inruling in Picker's favor. IES representatives were unavailablefor comment on whether they would appeal the ruling.